Optoelectronic components on an organic basis, for example an organic light emitting diode (OLED), are being increasingly widely used in general lighting. An organic optoelectronic component, for example an OLED, conventionally includes on a carrier an anode and a cathode with an organic functional layer system therebetween. The organic functional layer system may include for example one or a plurality of emitter layer(s) in which electromagnetic radiation is generated, one or a plurality of charge generating layer structure(s) each composed of two or more charge generating layers (CGL) for charge generation, and one or a plurality of electron blocking layer(s), also designated as hole transport layer(s) (HTL), and one or a plurality of hole blocking layer(s), also designated as electron transport layer(s) (ETL), in order to direct the current flow.
Conventional carriers of organic light emitting diodes are glass substrates that are adhesively bonded with a cavity glass on the rear side. A getter can be adhesively bonded in the cavity glass in order to bind moisture penetrating through the adhesive connection. In further conventional carriers, a thin-film encapsulation is formed on the rear side of the glass substrate, wherein a further glass as anti-scratch protection is laminated onto the rear side of the OLED. Both types of carriers for OLEDs can conventionally be singulated from the plate level to form individual devices by means of a scribe and break installation. This is carried out by a procedure in which the glass substrate is correspondingly scribed at the front side and at the rear side and subsequently broken by means of a “scribe wheel” with a specific force at corresponding breaking or singulating edges or singulating lines.
In conventional methods, a plastics film as anti-scratch protection or a metal film is laminated on the rear side of the carrier over the whole area. Such a substrate including carrier and laminated film each including different materials is also referred to as a hybrid OLED. A conventional method for singulation no longer functions in the case of a hybrid OLED since glass and plastics films or metal films cannot be singulated simultaneously by means of a scribe wheel. A plastics film as “elastic material” yields or springs back during scribing, for example, with the result that the plastics film is not actually separated at the scribed location.
In one conventional method, different materials are separated in one process by means of a laser. In the case of an OLED between a glass substrate and a cover glass, the contact areas of the OLED are conventionally exposed. At corresponding high laser powers or in specific wavelength ranges, the separation process is not selective between the glass substrate and the cover glass on the glass substrate. This makes it more difficult to cut the glass substrate and/or the cover glass at the front and/or rear side at different positions for exposing the contact areas. Moreover, this method requires the procurement of an expensive and usually also very cost-intensive maintenance of a laser system.
In a further conventional method, metal films which are intended to be applied to the OLED are trimmed to the OLED individual devices and shape prior to lamination thereon and are subsequently adhesively bonded/laminated individually onto the OLEDs at the corresponding positions of the carrier. Such a method is carried out sequentially and, as a manual process, is greatly affected by defects regarding quality and alignment of the individual film pieces. Furthermore, particles can increasingly be incorporated between film and OLED during the processing of individual film pieces. As a result, the individual processing of film pieces increases the risk of short circuits and the risk of damage to the (thin-film) encapsulation of the OLED. Individual application of film pieces is therefore not suitable for mass production.